‘Draft employment policy in a month’

TNN | Updated: Jun 7, 2019, 12:56 IST

Khaunte (L) said the government is keen on taking proactive steps

PANAJI: With the state staring at an employment crisis, minister for labour and employment Rohan Khaunte is counting on the Goa Employment Policy to address the “challenge of creating employment for Goans”. The policy, said Khaunte, would be implemented within 30 to 60 days. The Pramod Sawant-led government has formed a 12-member task force led by Khaunte to draft the policy for the private sector. “The government has formed a special task force to create an employment policy for the private sector,” said Khaunte, who is also the revenue and information & technology minister. “Here the Union and state government, as well as the industry have to work together to come up with something that will create employment for locals.”

Khaunte said the BJP-led coalition government was keen on taking “proactive steps” to ensure private sector companies create employment for locals. “We have a month to come out with the policy which will be for the short, mid and long-term,” said Khaunte. At present, the state government incentivizes companies to recruit locals. The Goa Investment Promotion Policy, Goa IT policy and Goa Startup Policy offer financial incentives, including salary reimbursement to companies that have 60-80% Goans as employees. However, the state lacks a mechanism to track if companies fulfil these criteria when they take benefits from the schemes.